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102
Wilmington Light Infantry to assemble and his son,
Will, was wounded at Fourth and Harnett Streets. It
is not known if Terry was a member of the Red Shirts
or White Government Union. Also mentioned in the
article is a black man, Willis Stevens, also known as
“ Drake,” a man who had been declared insane and
who had previously tried to run for Mayor. In May
1897, the County Board of Commissioners agreed to
the release of Drake from the county’s custody on
appeal from attorney Marsden Bellamy. On
Bellamy’s suggestion, the board purchased
shoemaker’s tools for Drake to make his own living.
Drake promised the board “ to go to work” but that
the tools remained the property of the county. A
news article indicated that Drake had previously tried
to claim election as mayor. A letter to the editor
followed which asked “ Why should the county
commissioners make an apporpiration to a ‘ crazy
negro’ to get him up in business, when there are
numbers of honest white men who are seeking
employment without success?” In 1898, white men at
the registration site apparently mistreated Drake,
leading to Peamon’s outburst. During the scuffle, a
crowd of blacks gathered, and the outnumbered white
men left the precinct. McDuffie, “ Politics in
Wilmington,” 616; Morning Star, ( Wilmington),
October 2, 1898, May 2, 1897; Wilmington
Messenger, May 4, 1897, October 2, 1898; Minutes
of the Board of County Commissioners, State
Archives.
Peter Drake. Possibly a propaganda card created
after October 2, 1898 incident. Note the props in
the photograph suggesting that the photo was
staged: his hat has a sign saying “ Mayor,” the
papers under the hilt of his sword are possibly
ballots, and his rifle still has a price tag.
Image courtesy of Bonitz Collection, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
In another incident, Frank Thompson
was arrested and accused of being the leader
of efforts to “ incite a riot” in Brooklyn on
the Saturday before the election. Thompson,
an employee of the Champion Cotton
Compress, and other blacks were gathered
on the street in Brooklyn near the
intersection of Fourth and Nixon Streets
around eleven o’clock at night on the
Saturday before the election. A Red Shirt
who lived in the neighborhood stepped off
the streetcar at the intersection and was
immediately confronted by the black men
who, according to the paper, moved toward
the white man “ as though to make an
attack.” The Red Shirt unwrapped his
concealed Winchester and then was pelted
with rocks from the blacks, among them
Thompson, who also apparently brandished
pistols. Some of the rocks hit the streetcar
behind the man. It was reported that the
black men declared “ they would stop the
cars from running.” After Thompson’s
arrest, the crowd was dispersed by both the
police and leading African Americans who
were “ influential” and “ peaceful.” After the
crowd dispersed, “ prominent citizens”
investigated the event later in the night and
found that blacks had “ boasted that their
children all had matches and bottles of
kerosene, knew how to use them and would
run some women out of their homes before
morning.” True or not, the article in the
Morning Star became another Democratic
tool to intensify fear and anger in
Wilmington. Other city papers confused the
specifics of the event such as the number of
black men at the intersection, what
Thompson actually did, and the chronology

102
Wilmington Light Infantry to assemble and his son,
Will, was wounded at Fourth and Harnett Streets. It
is not known if Terry was a member of the Red Shirts
or White Government Union. Also mentioned in the
article is a black man, Willis Stevens, also known as
“ Drake,” a man who had been declared insane and
who had previously tried to run for Mayor. In May
1897, the County Board of Commissioners agreed to
the release of Drake from the county’s custody on
appeal from attorney Marsden Bellamy. On
Bellamy’s suggestion, the board purchased
shoemaker’s tools for Drake to make his own living.
Drake promised the board “ to go to work” but that
the tools remained the property of the county. A
news article indicated that Drake had previously tried
to claim election as mayor. A letter to the editor
followed which asked “ Why should the county
commissioners make an apporpiration to a ‘ crazy
negro’ to get him up in business, when there are
numbers of honest white men who are seeking
employment without success?” In 1898, white men at
the registration site apparently mistreated Drake,
leading to Peamon’s outburst. During the scuffle, a
crowd of blacks gathered, and the outnumbered white
men left the precinct. McDuffie, “ Politics in
Wilmington,” 616; Morning Star, ( Wilmington),
October 2, 1898, May 2, 1897; Wilmington
Messenger, May 4, 1897, October 2, 1898; Minutes
of the Board of County Commissioners, State
Archives.
Peter Drake. Possibly a propaganda card created
after October 2, 1898 incident. Note the props in
the photograph suggesting that the photo was
staged: his hat has a sign saying “ Mayor,” the
papers under the hilt of his sword are possibly
ballots, and his rifle still has a price tag.
Image courtesy of Bonitz Collection, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
In another incident, Frank Thompson
was arrested and accused of being the leader
of efforts to “ incite a riot” in Brooklyn on
the Saturday before the election. Thompson,
an employee of the Champion Cotton
Compress, and other blacks were gathered
on the street in Brooklyn near the
intersection of Fourth and Nixon Streets
around eleven o’clock at night on the
Saturday before the election. A Red Shirt
who lived in the neighborhood stepped off
the streetcar at the intersection and was
immediately confronted by the black men
who, according to the paper, moved toward
the white man “ as though to make an
attack.” The Red Shirt unwrapped his
concealed Winchester and then was pelted
with rocks from the blacks, among them
Thompson, who also apparently brandished
pistols. Some of the rocks hit the streetcar
behind the man. It was reported that the
black men declared “ they would stop the
cars from running.” After Thompson’s
arrest, the crowd was dispersed by both the
police and leading African Americans who
were “ influential” and “ peaceful.” After the
crowd dispersed, “ prominent citizens”
investigated the event later in the night and
found that blacks had “ boasted that their
children all had matches and bottles of
kerosene, knew how to use them and would
run some women out of their homes before
morning.” True or not, the article in the
Morning Star became another Democratic
tool to intensify fear and anger in
Wilmington. Other city papers confused the
specifics of the event such as the number of
black men at the intersection, what
Thompson actually did, and the chronology